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The Vilnius Conference or Vilnius National Conference (Lithuanian: Vilniaus konferencija) met between September 18, 1917 and September 22, 1917,^[1] and began the process of re-establishing Lithuanian independence. It elected a twenty-member Council of Lithuania that was entrusted to declare and establish an independent Lithuania.

Contents 1 Historic background 2 Organizing the Conference 3 Proceedings of the Conference 3.1 Future of Lithuania and national minorities 3.2 Relations with Germany 3.3 Council of Lithuania 4 References

During the course of World War I, the German Empire invaded Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire. In 1915, the Germans assumed control and organized a military administration known as Ober Ost (short for der Oberbefehlshaber der gesamten deutschen Streitkräfte im Osten: "supreme command of all German forces in the East"). At first the Germans simply exploited Lithuanians for the benefit of the German army.^[2] As the war progressed, it became evident that Germany would not reach an effective victory,^[3] especially once the United States entered the war in spring 1917. This necessitated a re-thinking of strategies concerning the occupied territories in the east. An openly pursued goal of annexation gave way to a more guarded policy after Germany perceived that a public relations backlash might occur: the Central Powers realized that the Allies could use such territorial expansion in their propaganda.^[4] Lengthy debates between German military leaders (who favored open annexation) and the civilian administration (which leaned towards a more subtle strategy)^[5] resulted in a resolution, passed by the Reichstag on July 19, 1917, called the Resolution of Peace.^[6] It declared that the military administration governing occupied territories would grant some semblance of autonomy to their populations. The plan was to form a network of formally independent states that would in fact be completely dependent on Germany, the so-called Mitteleuropa.^[2]

A Vertrauensrat ("Council of Trust" or "Confidential Council") was authorized in May of 1917; its membership was to consist of Lithuanians and ethnic minorities in Lithuania.^[4] The military administration approached a number of prominent members of the Lithuanian community, including Bishop Pranciškus Karevičius, Antanas Smetona and Jonas Basanavičius, all of whom refused to participate in the rubber stamp advisory council.^[5] The Lithuanian Relief Committee, an organization that helped war victims and mobilized political activists,^[2] then entered into negotiations between Lithuanians and the occupational authorities. The Committee demanded that the Germans allow national conference, elected directly by the people.^[6] After lengthy negotiations, the parties reached an agreement to convene a body that would represent the country's population; however, no elections were allowed.

The Organizing Committee of the Conference (Ausschuss) met in Vilnius on August 1-4, 1917.^[5] At the start of the meeting, the military authorities presented an ultimatum that the future conference has to declare loyalty to Germany and agree to an annexation.^[5][4] Since no elections were allowed, representatives had to be invited by the Organizing Committee, which included Mykolas Biržiška, Petras Klimas, Antanas Smetona, Jonas Stankevičius, and Jurgis Šaulys.^[2] The Committee strove to choose representatives from a wide political, professional, and social spectrum. In total 264 representatives were selected, five to eight from each county (Lithuanian: apskritis).^[3] 214 of them attended the conference that convened on September 18, 1917, and remained in session until September 22.

The meetings of the Conference were held behind closed doors and no German representatives participated.^[5] A number of speeches were delivered during the early sessions of the council that denounced the German occupation, mentioning forced labor, heavy requisitions, and rampant deforestation.^[4] The Conference, however, concentrated on three main questions:^[6]

1. The future of Lithuania and its national minorities;
2. Lithuania's relations with Germany;
3. Election of the Council of Lithuania.

In regards to the future of Lithuania, the Conference announced that an independent state, based on democratic principles, needed to be declared.^[3] In response to various schemes to re-create the old Grand Duchy of Lithuania or Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the new state was to be created only in ethnic Lithuanian lands.^[2] Lacking real powers to represent the nation (the Conference was not democratically elected by the citizens), it did not specify the foundations of the state or relationships with other countries. These were to be decided by the Constituent Assembly, elected by popular vote.^[3] These three principles were echoed by the Council of Lithuania when it declared the Act of Independence of Lithuania.

The national minorities were promised freedom for their cultural needs.^[6] In later years national minorities were granted same rights as Lithuanians and in some cases extra representation in the government: after the war ended, the Council of Lithuania was expanded to include Jewish and Belarusian representatives;^[7] the first governments of Lithuania included Ministries for Jewish and Belarusian affairs;^[8] in 1920 the Jewish community was granted national and cultural autonomy with the right to legislate binding ordinances;^[9] the Russian Orthodox Church received financial support from the government;^[9] Germans, concentrated in the disputed Klaipėda Region, were also granted autonomy.^[9] The only sizeable minority that did not have extra representation was Polish because of intense conflicts over the Vilnius Region.^[10]

In response to the ultimatum by the Germans, the following resolution was adopted:^[4]

“

If Germany agrees to proclaim the state of Lithuania before the Peace Conference and to support the needs of Lithuania at the Peace Conference, then the Lithuanian Conference, bearing in mind that in normal conditions of peace the interests of Lithuania incline not so much to the East or to the South as to the West, recognizes the possibility for the future state of Lithuania to enter into a certain relationship, still to be determined, with Germany, without harming its own independent development.

”

East, South, and West in this context referred to Russia, Poland, and Germany, respectively.^[4] At this point in history, apart from disputes with Prussia concerning the multi-ethnic Klaipėda Region and its valuable seaport, Lithuania had not experienced conflicts with Germany since its wars with the Teutonic Knights in the Middle Ages. On the other hand, it had been part of the Russian Empire for over 100 years, and its conflicted relationship with Poland was of long duration. Direct oppression on the part of Germany, though, was a new development. Lithuania had established cultural ties to Germany; German ethnologists, including the Brothers Grimm, had been celebrating Lithuanian culture since the 17th century, and Goethe included a Lithuanian song in his play Die Fischerin. ^[11] The war and the occupation changed the situation. These mixed emotions were reflected in the resolution.

At the end of the proceedings the conference elected twenty members to the Council of Lithuania to act as the executive authority of the Lithuanian people.^[2] The Council was empowered to carry out the resolution adopted by the Conference, i.e. to negotiate with the Germans and declare an independent Lithuania.^[6] The Social Democratic members of the conference were dissatisfied with the composition of this council, since it included only two members of that party, and of the twenty members, six were Roman Catholic priests. Two of the priests then resigned; their places were taken by Stanislovas Narutavičius and Jonas Vileišis.^[4] Five months later, on February 16, 1918, the Council of Lithuania issued the Act of Independence of Lithuania.